(Photo Courtesy of www.wikipedia.org)
With the NBA season gearing up for the playoff push, not all teams are equal. Some teams are clearly in a position to make the postseason. Some teams are fighting for a chance to play in April, (SEE Trailblazers, Portland; Jazz, Utah). While some teams are fighting for any kind of relevancy at all, (SEE Timberwolves, Minnesota). Many fans throughout Minnesota are beginning to lose interest in the season (or have lost interest long ago). Many of these fans would typically turn to college hoops instead, but with the Gophers recent struggles, that’s not ideal. For gamblers and betters, though, there’s plenty of fun to still be had on sports sites such as wageronsports.com. With NCAA March Madness approaching, there is ample opportunity to hone college basketball wagering strategies and plenty of potential in the ongoing NBA season too.
In the talent-rich Western Conference, small market teams tend to struggle to attract enough star power to compete every year. Wolves fans know this fact all too well. After losing all-star Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics, the Timberwolves have had trouble attracting marquee free agents to the Twin Cities. What our pups have done well, though, is build from the ground up through the draft, and they now have a formidable crew of international players that form a nice young core.
Ricky Rubio, the talented point guard for the Timberwolves, makes up the first piece of this young core. His exciting brand of play has put him side-by-side with Bob Cousy, Steve Nash, and Jayson Williams. His play of late has been especially terrific, as ESPN notes: “Rubio has been a stat-stuffing machine lately, doling out double-digit assists in five of his last six games and tallying 14 steals while averaging 15 points per game over that span.”
Nikola Pekovic is another piece of the puzzle, a bruising big man who has excellent rebounding instincts and a soft touch around the basket. He can be downright dominating at times and forms a good tandem with Rubio. The Big Pek garnered trade interest at the deadline but the T-Wolves decided he was too good to move.
The third piece of the core is youngster Derrick Williams, who is still finding his own niche in the NBA. What we have seen from the forward so far early in his NBA career shows that he can knock down shots and can score. What he needs to continue to prove is that he can play at both ends of the floor and improve his defense. The Timberwolves need him now more than ever as they’re missing the presence and superb gameplay of their superstar Kevin Love.
The team is still young with plenty of talent at the key positions. While hopes for a playoff appearance in 2013 fell flatter than the Twins batting average, there is a lot of hope for the future. Most fans are tired of looking to the future on the never-ending rebuilding project, but that’s exactly what we’re doing once again. Like always, wait until next year.
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